Terms and conditions.

1. Who we are

BodyAxis ("BodyAxis", "we", "us", "our") is a South African wellness platform that sells supplements, cosmetics and topical products to the public, and supplies a separate, application-only private range to approved members and approved resellers.

• Trading name: BodyAxis
• Websites: bodyaxis.co.za and body-axis.web.app (together, the "platform")
• General and legal enquiries: orders@bodyaxis.co.za
• Orders and proof of payment: orders@bodyaxis.co.za
• Location: Pretoria, Gauteng, South Africa. Collection is by appointment only.

Section 43 of the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act 25 of 2002 ("ECTA") requires us to make certain information available to you before you order. That information is set out in this section, in section 10 (prices and payment), section 11 (delivery), section 12 (returns) and in our privacy policy.

2. Definitions

• Essentials range: the products listed in the public store that anyone may order without an application.
• Private range: the products that are only visible to, and may only be ordered by, approved members and approved resellers. Products in the Private range are supplied for research use only (see section 6).
• Member: a person whose application for the Private range has been approved by us and who holds an active account.
• Reseller: a person or business whose reseller application has been approved by us and who buys at reseller pricing for resale.
• You: any person who uses the platform, applies for access, or places an order, including a member or reseller.
• CPA: the Consumer Protection Act 68 of 2008. POPIA: the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013. ECTA: the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act 25 of 2002.
• Working day: Monday to Friday, excluding South African public holidays.

3. Acceptance of these terms

By using the platform, submitting an application, or placing an order, you agree to these terms. If you do not agree, do not use the platform or order from us.

You are asked to confirm that you accept these terms when you apply for the Private range and again at checkout. That confirmation, with the version number and the date and time, is stored with your application or order.

Some clauses limit our liability or place obligations and risk on you. Those clauses are written in plain language and, where the CPA requires it, they are drawn to your attention before you order. They include sections 6, 12, 16 and 17.

We may change these terms. The version number and effective date at the top of this page show the current version. A change applies to orders placed after the effective date. It does not change the terms of an order you have already placed.

4. Eligibility, accounts and approval

4.1 Capacity

You must have the legal capacity to enter into a binding contract under South African law. If you are under 18, a parent or guardian must place the order for you.

4.2 The Private range is application-only

Access to the Private range is granted by application and approval only. Every application is reviewed by a person. We may approve or decline an application at our discretion and we are not obliged to give reasons. You must be 18 or older to apply. By submitting an application you confirm that every detail you give is true, complete and your own.

4.3 Your account

You are responsible for everything done through your account. Keep your password and any passkey private, and tell us at once at orders@bodyaxis.co.za if you think your account has been used without your permission. We may require re-verification of your identity before restoring access.

4.4 Suspension and withdrawal of approval

We may suspend or close an account, or withdraw Private range or reseller approval, if you breach these terms, if we reasonably suspect fraud, misuse, resale in breach of section 13, or use of a Private range product contrary to section 6, or if the law requires it. Orders that have been paid for but not dispatched at the time of suspension will be refunded.

5. The Essentials range

Products in the Essentials range are supplements, cosmetics and topical products. They are regulated as foodstuffs or cosmetics under the Foodstuffs, Cosmetics and Disinfectants Act 54 of 1972. They are not medicines, they make no medicinal claims, and they have not been evaluated by the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA).

Use Essentials products only as directed on the label. Read the full ingredient list before use. Stop using a product and seek medical advice if you experience an adverse reaction. If you are pregnant, breastfeeding, taking medication or have a medical condition, consult a healthcare professional before use.

6. The Private range: research use only

6.1 What you confirm when you order

By ordering a Private range product you represent and warrant that:

• you are 18 or older;
• you are acquiring the product solely for lawful research purposes and you have the knowledge, training and facilities to handle it safely;
• you will not use the product, or allow it to be used, in or on humans or animals, or in any food, drug, cosmetic, medical device or diagnostic application;
• you will not resell, transfer or supply the product to any other person, except a reseller acting under section 13;
• you are solely responsible for complying with every law that applies to your acquisition, possession, storage, handling, use and disposal of the product; and
• you accept that we make no representation about the suitability of any product for any purpose you may have in mind.

6.2 Handling and storage

Private range products are supplied as research materials and must be handled by suitably qualified persons using appropriate protective measures. Storage and handling instructions supplied with a product, or printed on it, must be followed. Many products are temperature sensitive and deteriorate if they are not stored as directed. We are not responsible for deterioration caused by storage or handling after delivery.

6.3 Product data

Product descriptions in the Private range summarise published research for information only. They are not instructions for use and they are not a claim that any product produces any effect in humans or animals.

6.4 Right to refuse or limit

We may refuse, limit or cancel any Private range order, and withdraw approval, if we have any reason to believe that a product will not be used in line with this section. We may also ask for further information before we dispatch an order.

6.5 Regulatory position

The regulatory status of research compounds in South Africa can change. We monitor it and we may withdraw a product, or the whole Private range, at any time without notice. Paid orders for a withdrawn product will be refunded.

7. No medical advice

BodyAxis is not a medical practice. Our staff and representatives are not medical practitioners and do not diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease or condition. Nothing on the platform, in our emails, in the assessment, in product descriptions or in any conversation with us is medical advice, and none of it replaces a consultation with a qualified healthcare professional.

The online assessment is a questionnaire that helps us understand what you are looking for. Its result is not a diagnosis, a prescription or a treatment plan. Decisions about your health are yours to make with your own healthcare provider.

8. Product information and availability

We try to keep every product description, image and price accurate. Errors happen. We may correct an error, change a description, adjust a price or remove a product at any time without notice. Images are for illustration; packaging and presentation may differ from what is shown.

Stock shown on the platform is updated regularly but is not a guarantee of availability. If a product you have paid for is unavailable, we will tell you as soon as we know and you may choose a replacement of equal value or a full refund of that item.

9. Orders and acceptance

An order you place is an offer to buy. A contract is formed only when your payment has been confirmed and we have sent you an order confirmation by email. Until then we may decline your order for any lawful reason, including suspected fraud, a pricing or stock error, a failed payment, an address we cannot deliver to, or a Private range order that does not meet section 6.

Before an order is accepted, the price of every item is checked against our current price list. If the total you were shown does not match the price we hold for that item, the order is not accepted and any payment is refunded.

You must check your order confirmation. Tell us at once if anything is wrong, including your delivery address. We are not responsible for a delivery that fails because the address you gave was incomplete or incorrect.

10. Prices and payment

10.1 Prices

All prices are in South African Rand and include VAT where applicable. The price you pay is the price shown at checkout when you place the order, plus the delivery fee you select and any payment fee that is shown before you confirm. If we discover an obvious pricing error after you order, we will contact you to confirm the correct price or cancel the order and refund you in full.

Approved resellers see reseller pricing for their tier. Reseller pricing is confidential and may be changed by us on notice.

10.2 Payment methods

• Ozow (instant EFT): you pay from your own online banking and return to the platform. The order is confirmed when Ozow reports the payment as complete.
• HappyPay and PayJustNow (pay later): where offered, you pay in instalments to the provider under the provider's own terms. Any administration fee we charge for a pay-later order is shown at checkout before you confirm. The provider's credit decision is theirs, not ours.
• Manual EFT: you transfer the full amount to the bank account shown after you place the order, using the order reference exactly as shown, and send proof of payment to orders@bodyaxis.co.za. An EFT order is not dispatched until the payment has reflected in our account. If it has not reflected within 3 working days we may cancel the order after contacting you.

We do not see or store your card number, bank login or banking password. Payment details are handled by the payment provider you choose.

10.3 Payment verification

An order is dispatched only after payment has been confirmed by the provider or has reflected in our bank account. A payment that is flagged by a provider for review may delay dispatch until it is verified.

11. Delivery and collection

11.1 Where we deliver

We deliver to physical addresses in South Africa only. We do not deliver to post office boxes or outside South Africa.

11.2 Courier and fees

Orders are delivered by The Courier Guy. The delivery options and fees shown at checkout are live quotes from the courier for your address and our standard parcel, and the fee you select is the fee you pay. Delivery fees are shown before you confirm the order.

11.3 Dispatch and delivery times

Orders are dispatched after payment has been confirmed, normally on the next working day. The delivery estimate shown at checkout is the courier's estimate for the service you choose. Estimates are not guarantees. Deliveries can be delayed by the courier, by public holidays, by weather, by strikes or by events outside our control. We will tell you if we become aware of a material delay.

11.4 Tracking and receipt

You will receive a tracking reference by email once your order has been handed to the courier. Someone must be available at the address to receive the parcel. If the courier cannot deliver because nobody is available or the address is wrong, a re-delivery fee may apply.

11.5 Risk and ownership

Risk in the goods passes to you when the parcel is delivered to the address you gave, or when you collect it. Ownership passes when we have received payment in full. Inspect the parcel on receipt and report any damage or shortfall within 48 hours (see section 12.3).

11.6 Collection

Collection in Pretoria is available by appointment only. Select collection at checkout and we will send the collection details after payment has been confirmed. Do not arrive without an appointment.

12. Cancellations, returns and refunds

12.1 Cancelling before dispatch

You may cancel an order at any time before it has been dispatched by emailing orders@bodyaxis.co.za with your order number. You will be refunded in full to the payment method you used.

12.2 Cooling-off period (Essentials range)

Under section 44 of ECTA you may cancel an Essentials range order within 7 days after you receive it, without giving a reason, provided the product is unopened, unused, with its seals intact and in its original packaging. You pay the cost of returning the product to us. We refund the product price within 30 days of receiving the return.

Opened, used or unsealed cosmetics, supplements and topical products cannot be returned for hygiene and safety reasons, unless they are defective.

12.3 Private range products

Private range products are temperature-sensitive research materials that deteriorate once they leave a controlled chain of custody. Because they cannot be returned to stock, they fall within the exclusion in section 42(2)(f) of ECTA and the cooling-off period in 12.2 does not apply to them. A Private range order cannot be cancelled after dispatch and cannot be returned unless it arrived damaged, incorrect or incomplete.

12.4 Damaged, incorrect or missing items

If your parcel arrives damaged, or an item is missing, incorrect or defective, email orders@bodyaxis.co.za within 48 hours of delivery with your order number, a description of the problem and clear photographs of the parcel, the packaging and the item. We will replace the item, or refund it if a replacement is not available, at no cost to you. Please keep the item and its packaging until we have responded. We may ask you to return it to us for inspection, in which case we will arrange and pay for the collection.

12.5 Defective goods

Section 56 of the CPA gives you an implied warranty of quality on goods for six months from delivery. If a product is defective, unsafe, or does not do what it is reasonably meant to do, you may return it within that period for a repair, replacement or refund, at your election. This warranty does not cover damage caused by misuse, by failing to follow storage or handling instructions, or by ordinary wear.

12.6 How refunds are paid

Refunds are paid to the payment method used for the order: Ozow and EFT refunds by bank transfer to the account the payment came from, and pay-later refunds through the pay-later provider. Refunds are processed within 10 working days of the refund being approved. The time it takes to reflect depends on your bank or provider. Delivery fees are refunded only where the return is due to our error or a defective product.

12.7 Non-delivery

If a tracked parcel is confirmed lost by the courier, we will re-send the order or refund you in full. If the courier records the parcel as delivered to the address you gave and you did not receive it, tell us within 48 hours so that we can open an investigation with the courier.

13. Resellers

This section applies in addition to the rest of these terms if you are an approved reseller.

• Reseller approval, the tier you are placed in and reseller pricing are at our discretion and may be changed or withdrawn on notice.
• You buy from us and resell in your own name, at your own risk and for your own account. You are an independent business. You are not our agent, employee, partner or franchisee and you may not hold yourself out as one.
• Reseller orders are paid by EFT in full before dispatch, using the order reference shown, with proof of payment sent to orders@bodyaxis.co.za.
• You must pass on to every customer the restrictions in section 5 (Essentials range) and section 6 (research use only), and you may not remove, cover or alter any label, warning or research-use notice on a product.
• You may not make any medical, therapeutic, weight-loss, performance or safety claim about a product that is not printed on its label, and you may not describe any Private range product as suitable for human or animal use.
• You may not list our products on online marketplaces or classified sites, or advertise them in a way that breaches South African advertising or medicines law.
• You may use our product names and images to identify the products you sell. You may not use the BodyAxis name or logo in your own business name, domain or branding without our written consent.
• You are responsible for your own customers, including their returns and complaints, and you indemnify us against claims from your customers.
• Reseller pricing and any reseller communication from us are confidential.

14. Use of the platform

You may use the platform only for its intended purpose. You may not:

• give false information in an application, an order or an account;
• use another person's account or allow anyone else to use yours;
• attempt to access any part of the platform, any data or any account that you are not authorised to access;
• interfere with the platform's security, availability or integrity, or introduce any malicious code;
• copy, scrape or harvest content or data from the platform, or use automated tools to place orders; or
• use the platform for any unlawful purpose.

We may suspend access to the platform for maintenance or for security reasons. We aim to give notice of planned maintenance but do not guarantee that the platform will be available at all times.

15. Intellectual property

The BodyAxis name, logo, platform design, text, images, product descriptions, assessment and all other content on the platform belong to us or our licensors and are protected by South African and international law. You may view and print content for your personal use in connection with an order. You may not otherwise copy, reproduce, distribute, modify or create derivative works from it without our written permission. Third-party product names and trade marks belong to their owners.

16. Warranties and liability

16.1 Your rights under the CPA are not affected

Nothing in these terms excludes or limits any right you have under the CPA or any other law that cannot be excluded or limited by agreement, including the implied warranty of quality in section 56 of the CPA and your rights in respect of goods that are unsafe or defective.

16.2 Products supplied as described

We warrant that products will be supplied as described on the platform at the time of your order and will be of the quality reasonably expected of them for the purpose for which they are supplied. For the Private range, that purpose is laboratory research only. We give no warranty that any product is suitable for any other purpose, and no warranty about any result, effect or outcome.

16.3 What we are not liable for

Subject to 16.1, we are not liable for:

• any loss, injury or damage arising from the use of a Private range product in or on any human or animal, or otherwise contrary to section 6;
• any loss, injury or damage arising from use of an Essentials range product other than as directed on its label;
• any loss caused by your own storage, handling, mixing, reconstitution or administration of a product;
• any indirect, consequential or special loss, loss of profit, loss of business or loss of data; or
• any delay or failure caused by an event described in section 18.

16.4 Limit

Subject to 16.1, our total liability to you in connection with any order, whether in contract, delict or otherwise, is limited to the amount you paid for that order.

16.5 Platform content

The platform and its content are provided as they are. We do not warrant that the platform will be free of errors or interruptions, or that content is complete or current at every moment.

17. Indemnity

You indemnify BodyAxis, its owners, directors, employees, agents and suppliers against any claim, demand, loss, damage, cost or expense (including legal costs on an attorney and own client scale) arising from:

• your breach of these terms, in particular section 6 (research use only) and section 13 (resellers);
• your use, handling, storage, resale or supply of any product;
• any false or misleading information you give us; or
• any claim by a person to whom you have supplied a product.

This indemnity does not apply to the extent that a claim arises from our own negligence or from a defect in a product for which we are liable under the CPA.

18. Events beyond our control

We are not in breach of these terms, and are not liable to you, for any delay or failure to perform caused by an event beyond our reasonable control, including strikes, courier failures, power or network outages, supplier failures, regulatory action, disease outbreaks, civil unrest, extreme weather or government orders. If such an event prevents us from fulfilling a paid order within 30 days, either of us may cancel the order and we will refund you in full.

19. Complaints, disputes and governing law

19.1 Talk to us first

If something has gone wrong, email orders@bodyaxis.co.za with your order number. We acknowledge complaints within 2 working days and aim to resolve them within 10 working days.

19.2 Consumer bodies

If you are a consumer under the CPA and we cannot resolve your complaint, you may refer it to the Consumer Goods and Services Ombud (cgso.org.za), the National Consumer Commission (thencc.org.za) or your provincial consumer protection office. Complaints about the handling of your personal information may be lodged with the Information Regulator (see our privacy policy).

19.3 Governing law and courts

These terms are governed by the law of the Republic of South Africa. The courts of South Africa have jurisdiction over any dispute. Where the amount in dispute falls within the jurisdiction of the Magistrates' Court, you consent to that court's jurisdiction under section 45 of the Magistrates' Courts Act 32 of 1944, without prejudice to our right to bring proceedings in the High Court.

20. Privacy

We process personal information under POPIA. Our privacy policy explains what we collect, why, who we share it with, how long we keep it and how to exercise your rights. It forms part of these terms.

21. General

• Whole agreement. These terms, the privacy policy, your order confirmation and any product-specific notice shown to you before you order make up the whole agreement between you and us for that order.
• Severability. If any clause is found to be unenforceable, it is severed and the rest of these terms continue to apply.
• No waiver. If we do not enforce a right immediately, we have not given it up.
• Assignment. You may not transfer your rights or obligations under these terms. We may transfer ours to a successor business on notice to you.
• Electronic communications. You agree that we may communicate with you by email, SMS or WhatsApp at the details you give us, and that electronic records of your applications, acknowledgements and orders are admissible as evidence of them under ECTA.
• Notices. Notices to us must be sent to orders@bodyaxis.co.za. Notices to you are sent to the email address on your account or order.
• Headings. Headings are for convenience and do not affect interpretation.

22. Contact

Questions about these terms: orders@bodyaxis.co.za. Proof of payment and order queries: orders@bodyaxis.co.za. We reply within 2 working days.